The FFAG (fixed-field alternate gradient) accelerator offers an attractive solution for systems that require rapid acceleration of charged particles over a wide range of energies. It performs rapid acceleration at significant reduced size of both the magnetic components and the overall accelerating structure without the need to alter the current in the electromagnet.
These advantages of the FFAG accelerator require rapidly tunable RF (radio frequency) cavities. In particular, rapidly tunable RF cavities are needed to accelerate charged particles as they gain momentum each time they orbit in the FFAG accelerator.
Rapid frequency tuning in RF cavities remains a significant challenge, however, for the above-described FFAG accelerator, as well as for other applications.